Steph's Story
by Scattia
Summary: This story is written in Steph's P.O.V. and starts at No Way Out
1. After My Match

As I returned to the backstage area, I felt like I was floating on air. I had finally put that… that _tramp_ back in her place. OK, I'd had a bit of help from that idiot Regal, but I'd still won and that's what's important, right?

I couldn't wait to tell Hunter, "He'll be so proud of me!" I thought. I bounced into the room, nearly knocking over the medic who had bandaged Hunter's wrists as he tried to leave. "Opps…sorry!!" I giggled, still on an incredible high from winning the match. The medic's eyes almost fell out of their sockets in surprise over the out of character apology. This only made me laugh even more.

"Oh my God Hunter, did you see me?" I shrieked, once the medic had left the room. "Did you see me beat Trish to a pulp?? And Regal turned on her!! Did you see it when I power-bombed her? It was great!! I…" I slowed and then stopped talking when I noticed the turned-off monitor. A bad feeling began to grow in my stomach. "Hunter, you did see my match, didn't you??"

He didn't even have the grace to look embarrassed. "Hunter!" I wailed, really upset, "You promised me you would!! You –"

"Just shut up Steph! I've got more important things to worry about then your stupid little catfight with Trish. And why do you have a problem with her anyway?? Your Dad's well satisfied with her and as long as he's happy, I don't see what you've got to complain about."

"I can _not_ believe you just said that!! She's a – "

"Steph, I said shut it!!" he suddenly roared at me. I shrank back against the wall in fear. I've seen my husband angry many times before, but never angry at me. I now understood why he had a reputation for being an intimidating person. 

"I'm sorry," I stuttered, my happiness having vanished into thin air. "I - I know you've got a lot on your plate tonight with your match against Austin but-" A fist slammed into the wall behind me, narrowly missing my head.

"Don't mention his name in front of me; in fact don't talk to me at all, Steph."

"But-"

"Jesus, don't you ever listen to me!!! You – oh just get the hell out of here!!" he yelled. I just stood shocked, unable to believe how he had just spoken to me – Hunter had never shouted at me before. He grabbed my arm and dragged me to the door. "Why don't you go and visit your new friend Regal? Or better yet, why don't you go and see how Daddy's taken the news that his daughter's just beaten the crap out of his ho?? But whatever you do, just stay the hell away from me!!!"

The door slammed in my face. I just stood there for close to a minute, unable to believe what had just happened. My husband had just kicked me out of my own locker-room!


	2. After My Match (Part 2)

**_Author's Notes:_**_ Hey y'all!! Thanks for all the reviews – keep them coming!! Here's the next part – hopefully I'll have posted the next one by the end of the weekend. Just one other thing to say: I've rearranged the order of the matches at No Way Out; instead of having Austin/HHH in the middle, I've put it at the end just before the title match. The tag-title match is before these two but after the Steph/Trish match._

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I was not happy. To say I was mad was an understatement. I'm a McMahon dammit! No one but _no one_ speaks to me like that _ever_!!

I was all set for charging in there and telling Hunter that, when I heard voices coming from around the corner – and one of them was my Dad's. Boy, did he sound angry!! Normally, I'd just march right up there and join Dad in having a go at whoever it was that had upset him, but something stopped me. Maybe it was Hunter's words about how mad he (Dad) was at me for taking Trish out. Or it could be that I just wasn't ready to face another angry male member of my family yet. So this time I settled for listening in secretly.

You know people tell you that only bad things will happen through listening in on other people's conversations?? I never used to believe it, but now I'm not too sure. Because what I heard made my world spin. My Dad wanted a mixed tag-match pitching me and Regal against him and Trish!!

At first I was too shocked to react. I mean, I was meant to be Daddy's Little Girl!! I was his Princess!!! And now I had to get in the ring and _fight_ him???? When I finally realised that I had to go and persuade him out it, he'd already stormed off, leaving a flabbergasted Regal behind. "What the _hell_ was that about!" I screeched at him. "What did you say to him that made him book such a…a … _heinous_ match?"

"Umm, Stephanie – Miss McMahon – Mrs Helmsley, I…I have no idea what made your father do this! I mean, I thought he wanted me to help you win your match! Not that you wouldn't have won the match by yourself of course, but as…as…" he floundered, desperately thinking of a way to get his butt-kissing back on track. 

"Well, William" I stated calmly, seeing him visibly relax. "I guess there's only one thing left to do." With that I drew back my arm and with all the force I could put behind it, slapped him. "Now get your sorry ass over to wherever my Dad and the Slut are staying and talk him out of it!!"

Needless to say, he high-tailed it out of there as fast as he could. Having one McMahon out to make his life hell was bad enough but _two_? Even he wasn't _that_ much of a fool.

Having successfully pulled off an ego trip, I debated what to do next. Hunter still had to have his match with Austin and until that was over, I didn't particularly want to face him. Don't get me wrong, I know my husband would never deliberately hurt me either physically or mentally, but this match with Austin – well really _everything_ to do with Austin - had him on edge. 

Speaking of Edge, it was then that I ran into my two favourite Canadians. "Yo Steph! How's it going??" asked Christian.

"I'm fine, thanks. Did you see my match earlier?" I asked, knowing that these two never missed an opportunity to butt-kiss. Hey, what can I say; my ego needed a little massaging.

"Of course. You totally reeked of awesomeness!! And can I just say that you are _so_ the queen of domination!!" replied Edge.

"Thank you!!" I said, glad that somebody appreciated my obvious superiority and natural in-ring ability.

"Look Stephanie," Edge began "We'd love to stay and chat -"

"Cause you have multitudinal coolness" butted in Christian.

"- but our match against the Dudleyz and Taker and Kane for the Tag-Team Titles is next and we really should be going." 

Both looked at me quizzically as if expecting me to say something like _'Actually the match has been cancelled and I've decided to give the belts to you'_ or _'If you want, I'll come and interfere in the match to make sure you win'_ or even something as simple as _'Haven't you heard? Taker and Kane missed their flight so they're not gonna be here'_. Instead I just said, "Oh well, good luck. Maybe I'll see you afterwards?" and walked away. I almost had to laugh when I turned round and saw the expressions on their faces – both looked like I'd sentenced them to 100 years as Mick Foley's personal servants.

I was glad I'd run into them though; they had given me an idea of where I could go. Silently chuckling, I continued to walk the corridors until I found the room I had been looking for. After knocking and hearing a "Who is it?" I opened the door and said,

"Hey Kurt. It's me. You all set for tonight?"


	3. Me and Kurt

# **_Author's Notes:_**_ As promised, here is the 3rd part. I think it kind of sucks but here it is anyway!!!_

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# OK, maybe I should explain something here. You see for the past couple of weeks, ever since I knew I would be facing Trish at No Way Out, I had been trying to train for the match. At first Hunter helped me, but then he got too preoccupied with Austin to help. I tried to find Tori to see if she could train me but every time I asked X-Pac about her, he'd just mumble something and walk off. Hell, I'd even swallowed my pride enough to go and ask _Lita_ for some tips but she just assumed that I was lying and it was a big set-up. Nobody was willing to help me – until one day I _literally_ ran into Kurt.

Being a McMahon, I immediately thought-up a plan. Kurt was my one-time good friend, why couldn't he help me?? The fact that he was Trish's business partner and would know all her training secrets was just a coincidence (not). So I turned my biggest baby-blue puppy-eyes look on him and told him how Hunter had been ignoring me recently and wouldn't even help me prepare for my match. He fell for it hook, line and sinker and immediately offered to train me. "But you're Trish's business partner!" I said in my best damsel-in-distress voice. It didn't even take him 5 seconds to decide with whom his loyalties lied. God I'm good.

So Kurt trained me for the weeks leading up to the match and taught me tons of great moves to use. He also told me what Trish was doing and what moves she was practising. By the Smackdown before the match, Kurt had found out enough information to dump the slut and become (officially at least) business partner-less. Of course no one knew about this except me and Kurt – I wasn't stupid, I knew Hunter would hit the roof if he ever found out.

After hearing me enter, Kurt looked up from tying his boots and broke into a massive grin. He sprinted over to me and gave me a really big hug. "Stephanie!! Great match tonight!! I am _so_ proud of you!!! And you thought that you couldn't suplex anyone!!"

"Thanks Kurt!" I said, my good mood about winning the match instantly returning. "I did do good didn't I? But you know I couldn't have done it without you." 

He simply blushed. "Aww, gee Steph, I'm sure you could of. I didn't do _that_ much."

## "Yes you did. You truly are my Olympic hero"

"Hey, don't forget WWF Champion!" he laughed. Then more solemnly, he said "_If_ I beat the Rock tonight."

"Don't talk like that! You _are_ going to beat the Rock and you _are_ going on to beat Austin at Wrestlemania - if Hunter doesn't kill him first." I added on as an afterthought.

"He's really pumped up then?" I nodded. "I can't blame him. God Steph, when I saw him stunner you I wanted to kill him!! I'm surprised Hunter didn't lose it then!! If it were me I know I would have gone at him, 6 months suspension or not. But then again if it were me, I wouldn't have tried to run him down in the first place. Against the 3 I's you know."

Yer, I know, it was a pretty dumb thing to do wasn't it." I agreed, for the first time in public admitting I didn't agree with what my husband had done. We both then settled down in silence on the couch to watch Edge and Christian try to regain their belts. "He never watched my match." I commented after it was all over.

"_What?"_

"Hunter; he – "

"I heard what you said Steph, I just didn't believe it. That man's a bigger jackass then I thought he was!! My God, does he have _any_ idea how to treat you right??? He needs to be taught a lesson Steph!!! He needs to learn –"

"Kurt, it's all right, he was preoccupied with his match against Austin"

"And that makes it _right_?!? I swear Steph if that were _my_ wife, I would _never_ do that! Hell, I wouldn't even let her fight that match by herself. I'd – "

"Kurt it's all right, honest! Once tonight's over, everything'll go back to normal." *Or at least I hope so* I thought. Getting up I said, "Good luck with the match and I'll speak to you once it's all over."

"Aren't you going to stay here and watch your husband's match?" he asked curiously as I straightened out my clothing.

"No, I'd better go and check on Edge; he really went through that table funny." I replied. "Hey, haven't you got some press-ups or something to do? Don't tell me that only I have to go through that torture and that you don't!!"

"Well you're not the WWF Champion and can I see _your_ Olympic gold medals??" he answered, smiling. 

"Well maybe I'll buy some" I shot back as I left, knowing full well Kurt's thoughts on how sacred and special the Olympics were. He was almost as easy to wind up as Shane was.

Once outside I paused, undecided again as to where I should go. I knew I should back to my dressing-room and watch Hunter, but he hadn't watched my match, so why should I watch his?Instead I went to see Edge in the medics' room. And had my heart almost stop when 45 minutes later they brought Hunter in, bloody and barely conscious.


	4. Hunter's Obsession

_Hey guys!! Sorry this is a bit late, but I've been up to my neck in coursework and this is the 1st chance I've had to update. I know this chapter's a bit short but I'll try and make the next one longer, I promise!!!!_

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Seeing my husband lie on a stretcher in a covered in his own blood was not one of the best moments of my life; in fact I think I can pretty safely say that it didn't even make the top 100. Hell, I rate that kiss from Jericho higher then that and that was… well lets not go there.

At that moment, I honestly repented for all the bad things I've said and done against Hunter; from the lamps I've thrown at his head, to the names I've called him both to his face and behind it, to that whole thing with Kurt last summer. I'd never seen him look that bad, both in the time we'd been together and before. Even after the street-fight with Mick Foley at last year's No Way Out, he hadn't looked that bad.

"My God Hunter, what did he do to you?" I whispered, really wanting to burst into tears but unable to because of all the people around who would laugh if they saw me cry. After all, a McMahon doesn't cry, at least not in public. 

"Umm…Mrs Helmsley, your husband is unconscious; he can't actually hear you." a medic informed me. The look I gave him sent him scuttling out of the room.

For the next half an hour the medics worked on him, trying to clean up his wounds and stitch up the really bad ones. All through this time, he didn't wake up once. I eventually cracked and started to cry. Nobody seemed to notice, which I was grateful for. It was that or nobody cared.

Eventually the medics deemed him fit enough to travel to the local hospital where he was to be kept in for observation. I travelled in the ambulance with him, silently begging him to wake up. Just as we were about to enter the hospital, he finally opened his eyes. "Thank you God" I whispered, convinced that now he was wake, everything with him was finally going to be OK. 

And everything with him was OK; it was me who was in a state. Do you know the first thing he said to me when we were finally left alone? "The game's finally over, that'll teach that dumb SOB to mess with me! What did I do to him Steph? Have I crippled him? Or have I finally managed to put the Rattlesnake out of commission for good??"

Austin. Even after almost having his brains knocked out by him, he was all he could think about. I had thought that once this match was over he'd move on and stop being so obsessed with him, but no; Hunter was still as fanatical about him as ever. On and on he went, giving me a blow-by-blow account of how he'd supposedly torn Austin apart (later on I'd find out that he'd actually come out of the match physically a lot better then Hunter had) until finally I'd had to walk out. All he cared about was that he had won the damn match, not that it had almost killed him doing so.

Being a wrestler's wife is hard and I think that it's even worse for me. Not only do I have to watch my husband slug it out night in, night out, but on occasions I have to watch my Dad and brother do it as well, not to mention all the suffering I feel every time Kurt gets into the ring. I care for all of them and seeing them get hurt kills me inside. 

That's why when I bumped into Christian later that night at the hospital and he told me that Kurt had lost the title, I had to go and see him. After all, his pain is my pain.


	5. My Night with Kurt

After much searching I finally found Kurt in the hotel bar, trying to drown his sorrows away in tequila. He looked awful. Even from a distance, I could see his big blue puppy-eyes gazing unseeingly on the shot glass in front of him. I really did feel for him, I knew how much that title had meant to him. All I wanted to do was go over and hug him, but there was still to many people around to do that. Instead, I settled for climbing on to the barstool beside him and just reaching out and clasping his hand. "Hey you" I murmured.

"Oh Steph…" he began before he broke down completely, almost pulling me off my stool as he clutched at me, sobbing his heart out. At first I was too busy trying to regain my balance (never let anyone persuade you heels are easy to balance on) to react but then I noticed that people where beginning to look at us.

"Umm, Kurt, it's gonna be OK; umm, you can let go of me now, umm…"Kurt carried on crying. "Umm, people are beginning to stare at us Kurt. I –"

"Well I don't care!! I'm not ashhhamed to let people see me cry!!! You hear me folks, I'm not ashhhamed!!"

"Kurt," I began, in a low voice "I think you've had enough. Now I'm going to take the bottle and –"

"But it's mine Steppf, it's mine!!! You can't take that away from me, it's the only thing I've got left now!! It's mine!!!" 

"OK, I'm taking you upstairs" I stated, trying to sling his arm over my shoulder and get him to stand upright. For someone who isn't that much taller then me, he sure is heavy! After a few attempts, I managed to get us going in more or less a straight line towards the lift. Once inside, I propped him against the wall, with him still holding his bottle blubbering about how it was his. 

Finally, with more luck then skill, I managed to get us outside the door to his room, 814. Isn't it ironical how me and Kurt always end up in this room? Anyway, between the sobs I managed to get him to admit the key was his in his jacket pocket, so I leaned forward to get it out. Unfortunately, Kurt was so drunk he couldn't even stand still without swaying and ended up taking us both out. As I lay on the floor with Kurt on top of me I heard a familiar smirk. Turning my head I groaned as I recognised the familiar boots and legs of my least favourite person around, Chris Jericho. "Gee Steph, doesn't 2 dollars even get you the decency of a room nowadays? Or have you upped your prices? No wait, I've got it, the famous 2-dollar package is now anyone, anywhere, anytime?? But then again, that's what it was before."

"Just go to hell" I said through gritted teeth. 

"Whatever Steph, I'll just be joining you there." He laughed and walked off, probably to find someone new to make fun out of. I really do hate that man.

A few minutes later, I'd managed to push Kurt off me, open the door and drag him inside, leaving him lying there on the floor. As if things couldn't get any worse, when I switched on the TV, all they had on was Titanic and I hate that film. Plus, there was only Coke and no diet in the mini-bar. I was not a happy McMahon.

Eventually, Kurt managed to resuscitate himself enough to actually get up and join me on the bed where I was watching the Matrix for the second time in a row, it being the only alternative to the sinking-ship. 

"Steph, can you turn it down a bit? The TV's hurting my head." I sent him my famous 'and why should I care' look. He blushed and looked away. "Maybe you were right and I did drink a bit too much."

Sighing, I turned the TV off and twisted round to face him. "Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked.

"I'm really, _really_ sorry for what happened down stairs, I didn't mean to embarrass you down there. It's just…well, the title was the only good thing I still had left, you know? I mean for a while I had everything going for me; the fans loved me, or at least I thought they did, I'd won the title, you was there with me…everything was going so right. I really thought that thing's were going to keep getting better, but they didn't. First Hunter took you away from me and wouldn't even us talk, then the crowd turned on me and now my title's gone! What am I gonna do Steph, what am I gonna do?" he asked as he broke down crying again.

"Oh Kurt…" I murmured, wrapping him in the biggest hug I could give him. "Shhh it's going to get better, I promise you, trust me on this one. After all you're my Olympic Gold Medallist and no one is going to stop you from regaining that title."

"You know what Steph; none of that matters, none it as long as I've got you. Please say you'll say here with me tonight, please"

I grimaced; as much as I wanted to, I knew that I'd have to go back to Hunter. "Kurt, Hunter's still in the hospital and I really should –"

"Hell Steph, he won't even know you're missing!! Please just stay here with me tonight. I just wanna hold you that's all, nothing else." 

I knew Kurt was sincere and really meant it; Hunter wouldn't miss me and Kurt was too much of a gentleman to let anything happen. 

"Well…OK then" I agreed as we settled down to watch the Matrix for what was for me, the 3rd time that night.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi guys!! Sorry this took me so long, but I've been REALLY busy with coursework recently. Thanks to that I might have to skip a bit of the storyline later on but I will (eventually) get back up-to-date soon. And big thanks to everyone who keeps reviewing; it's you guyz who keep me going!! Claire xxx_

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"Hmm…" I murmured, being slowly awakened by someone gently brushing my hair out of my face. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Kurt gazing down on me with that adorable half-smile only he can do.

"Hi Kurt" I murmured sleepily, unable to break eye contact with those gorgeous blue eyes. Something began to tug at my memory but I pushed it away. After all, how many times would I get to start the day this perfectly?

"Hi Princess, sleep well?" he replied using my Dad's nickname for me. That buried memory was definitely banging for some attention; my head was throbbing.

"I'm fine…I really – **_Holy Shit!!!"_** I shrieked, realising exactly what that memory was – I was going to have to fight my Dad that night!

"Stephanie, what is it? What's wrong?? You know you can tell me anything – Please, just let me help you!!" Kurt begged as I ran around the room finding my stuff, hyperventilating and crying as I went.

"Last night – Dad, angry – Fighting him tonight – She's a slut! – All Trish's fault" I cried when Kurt finally grabbed me and made me stand still long enough to explain.

"Maybe he'll have calmed down by now and have realised what a big mistake he's made." He suggested hopefully. "After all he has had a chance to cool down by now."

"You don't know my Dad like I do, Kurt. If he wants to fight then I'm gonna have to fight." I replied sadly, letting him hug me.

"You don't know my Dad, William, like I do. If he wants to fight then we're gonna have to as well." I informed Regal as he waited for my father to arrive. Deja vu or what?

"But surely Mrs Helmsley, he'll listen to reason and can be persuaded to reconsider" begged Regal desperately.

"William, aren't you listening to me; he **_won't_** change his mind!! Now go and change, hurry we're on soon!!!!"

I later found out that that kiss-up Regal had gone and found my Dad and had tried to butt-kiss his way out of the match; not that it had worked of course. So, against my better judgement, I decided to go and have a try myself.

I should have listened to my better judgement. Personally I think that I performed my little speech really well and if it had been Shane then I would have been let off the hook immediately. But (unfortunately) my Dad isn't Shane.

I started off by pointing out that (in true McMahon style) I didn't have a problem with wrestling that night and had **_no_** problem whatsoever with wrestling Trish (note to self: should really have missed out the point about me totally beating her the night before as that undid all the good work I had done before). I then asked him the question that had been bugging me all day; "But Dad, what'll happen if it comes down to me and you in the ring?"

"Then Steph, I guess we'll just get it on" he replied.

I looked over into the corner of the room and that's when I saw it, that big bucket of slop. I gulped, loudly.


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